Trump’s military parade will involve only wheeled vehicles

The Pentagon planning memo said that the parade will be held on November 11

The memo also pointed out that the parade won’t involve tanks to minimize damage to infrastructure

The Pentagon has not included the cost of the parade but it is estimated to cost $10 million - $30 million

WASHINGTON, U.S. - The Pentagon has unveiled a memo revealing details of the planned military parade demanded by the U.S. President Donald Trump.

According to the memo, released on Friday, the parade is being planned for November 11, on Veterans Day.

While the memo did have some surprises, including that fact that the parade would not feature tanks, it did not specify the cost of the entire event.

According to estimates drawn out by the White House budget director, however, the parade is set to cost anywhere between $10 million to $30 million.

The White House budget director Mick Mulvaney recent told the House Budget Committee that "very preliminary" estimates he had seen put the cost at between $10 million and $30 million "depending on the size of the parade, the scope of it, the length of it, those kinds of things."

The Pentagon planning memo said the parade will “include wheeled vehicles only, no tanks consideration must be given to minimize damage to local infrastructure.”

Over fears that heavy tanks would cause massive damage to the streets of DC, the Pentagon has decided to give that a miss.

The memo, however, said the event will “include a heavy air component at the end of the parade,” meaning lots of airplane flyovers.

The memo was released from the office of the defense secretary Jim Mattis and offered initial planning guidance to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff will plan the parade along a route from the White House to the Capitol and integrate it with the city’s annual veterans’ parade.

According to reports, Northern Command, which oversees U.S. troops in North America, will execute the parade.

Trump recently called on his officials to organize a grand military parade through the streets of Washington.

While White House officials immediately began planning the parade, many critics called on the President to avoid the unnecessary show of raw military power.

However, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis argued that the plan reflects Trump’s respect for the armed forces.

Mattis said, “I think we’re all aware in this country of the president’s affection and respect for the military. We’ve been putting together some options. We’ll send them up to the White House for decision.”

The idea of staging a grand parade of the armed forces in Washington was first introduced by Trump, when he met with the French President Emmanuel Macron last September.

He had then stated that the parade would be staged on July 4.

Later, Pentagon spokesman Army Lt. Col. Jamie Davis confirmed, “We are aware of the request and are in the process of determining specific details. As you can expect, this is a complex event and there are many variables that go into the planning and execution of a parade. DOD will provide options for the president and send them to the White House for review.”

Soon after the plans were first revealed, Democrats and several other experts were quick to criticize them - claiming that massive military parades are common in authoritarian countries like China and North Korea but not America.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said that such a parade risks being "kind of cheesy and a sign of weakness" if it's all about showing off military hardware.

However, White House legislative director Marc Short countered at the time, “I’m not sure honouring the military is a waste of money.”

The president’s critics have also argued that plans for a military parade evoke the tactics of the Soviet Union or North Korea, not a democracy that is sure of its military strength.

Further, Reps. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), military veterans on the House Armed Services Committee and Foreign Affairs Committee, respectively, wrote a letter to Mattis urging him to tell Trump such a parade would be “frivolous.”

They wrote in the letter, “No one in the world doubts the strength of our military or the professionalism of our men and women in uniform. A parade will not alter that perception. Instead, it will likely prompt ridicule from our friends and foes alike. It should go without saying that just because authoritarian regimes like Russia and North Korea hold massive military parades does not mean that we must as well.”

Further, Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, said he was “greatly concerned” with the reported plans and argued, “The military is not President Trump’s personal toy set. He cannot be allowed to continue focusing on parades and ego-inflating toys instead of real, basic military needs that can jeopardize lives if they are not met.”

Even top Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Appropriations Committee Defense Subcommittee sent a letter to Mattis demanding answers on the cost of such an event.

The lawmakers wrote, “At a time of war, with American service members serving in harm’s way, such a parade seems to be inappropriate and wasteful. Every penny of the millions of dollars that the parade would cost and every second of the tens of thousands of personnel hours its execution would require, should be devoted to the most essential missions of the Department of Defense — protecting the American people and our security interests.”

Trump’s supporters, however, believe that critics of the parade are being disingenuous and skewing history.

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